Mulch is very important in gardening and is used to keep weeds away and help the soil to retain moisture and reduce erosion from rain and wind. Some organic mulches can be very helpful to the soil and cedar vs cypress mulch as a bug repellantare two popular mulches that will help protect your plants from unwanted insects.
Mulch is any material that you place on the surface of the soil in your flower beds or around trees and plants that will help to improve or protect the area it covers. Mulch provides helpful nutrients to the soil, enhances microbial activity, and improves your plant’s overall health. It can also be used to repel insects. Mulch is categorized into organic and inorganic.
Organic mulch is a byproduct of natural sources like leaves, grass, nutshells, bark, and straw.
Inorganic mulch is usually got from man-made products like rubber, plastic, or even rocks.
However, organic mulch does a better job of repelling bugs and once it gets broken down, it helps to improve the soil’s chemistry and this increases the number of helpful insects, bacteria, and fungi. Helpful insects prevent the multiplication of harmful plant-destroying insects.
Cedar mulch
Cedar mulch is made from hardwood mulch which can be used for aesthetic purposes if you want to decorate around your plants and trees and also at the same time help your plants grow healthy and strong. It’s mostly used for soil insulation, water retention, adds charm to your landscape, weed inhibition, and repelling insects. Cedar trees grow very easily and quickly and in different environmental climates so it can handle both the heat and cold very well. Since cedar chips are a bit heavier, it’s better to place them around the base of large trees and shrubs. Shredded cedar is lightweight with a delicate texture that makes it ideal to be used around flowers and bedding plants. If you’re mulching around tree trunks and shrubs, you should ensure the mulch doesn’t touch the tree because the wet mulch placed next to the tree trunk can cause it to rot and also cuts airflow which can attract diseases.
Cypress mulch
Cypress mulch is usually made from bark, libs, and ground-up leaves. These trees grow in wetlands and are a natural habitat for many animals. They also help in filtering pollutants in the air. Mulch got from these trees contain a large mass of heartwood that has insecticidal properties. Cypress garden mulch is cheaper than most other organic mulches and adds nutrients to the soil once it decomposes. It’s also very effective in preventing weed growth. Most people like using cypress mulch because it’s affordable, but lately these trees are reducing in population due to logging and their use as mulch which is destroying the animal’s natural habitat.
Cedar vs cypress mulch as a bug repellent. Differences you should consider
Repelling insects
Cedar mulch naturally provides a protective layer that repels many insects that would damage your flower beds or garden. The wood contains natural oils and chemicals like thujone that can help reduce or eliminate insects like termites, cockroaches, some ant species, carpet beetles, and cloth-eating moths. On the other hand, cypress mulch doesn’t repel insects and may attract termites. Most insects can’t smell, so the cypress scent doesn’t affect them. Cypress also absorbs and retains water which attracts termites.
Bug repellent
Cedar wood naturally repels insects which makes it the best wood to use for bedroom furniture as it won’t attract moths and will protect against mite infestation. You can also use it around the base of your plants if you have an insect problem in your garden or you’re trying to prevent a pest problem. Cypress mulch also has a strong aroma and oil extracts that can also repel insects, but not as effectively as cedar mulch.
Water retention
Most mulches have the benefit of improving your soil’s water retention, especially in areas where the soil dries out quickly because of too much exposure to the sun and heat. Cedar mulch helps to retain the water moisture in the soil which reduces water evaporation by providing physical barriers between the air and soil. On the other hand, cypress mulch has moisture-retaining properties that prevent water from reaching the roots. At the same time, moist mulch that is near your plant’s stem can cause them to rot or get a fungal infection.
Availability
Cedar trees grow easily and quickly and are readily available and they can grow in different climates. This means it’s readily available and it can be used in both cold and hot weather. However, the cypress mulch is becoming harder to obtain because the cypress tree population is slowly declining. This is because these trees are difficult to replant and destroying them is causing them to become extinct.
Conclusion
If you know how to use mulch properly, it will not only improve the appearance of your flower beds and garden, it will also help to improve the soil’s water retention and keeps bugs and pests away. With the information in this Cedar vs cypress mulch as a bug repellent article, you can now choose the type of mulch to use place on your plants and flower beds. While both cedar and cypress are great mulches to use in repelling bugs and give more nutrients to your plants, but cedar mulch is more potent and readily available.
William Moore
William Moore is an expert in lawn mowing, with 13 solid years of experience under his sleeves, William is, therefore, the best person to offer lawn mowing advice to individuals who are looking to create the perfect cosmetic lawn. William developed a passion for lawn mowing after realizing that people never took the necessary precaution to ensure that their lawns grow back in full. There are, therefore, different types of lawnmowers, and without understanding the exact use of each then, the lawns will suffer and so will the lawnmowers. And that is the reason why he came up with the extensive review on lawn mowers, to help get the right information to the relevant audience.
